I am a pilot at a university flight program, and I just finished up my instrument. I am working on my commercial right now, and I qualify for the 1,000 hr R-ATP. There have been several recruiters come to my school, and it's hard to know which one would be the best option. I've read through some of the forums on here, but it's hard to keep up to date with the current information. The top on my list right now is Republic. I like their variety of base options, and they have a nice fleet. Does any body know anything about some of their work rules? Deadhead pay, cancellation pay etc.? What other regionals would you recommend considering?

I know it may be a bit early for me to look into these things, but Republic will do a conditional job offer as soon as pilots finish their instrument. Since I have been looking into them so much, I figured I'd look into some others right now as well.

Thanks for your help

I am in a similar situation as you. Where do you live? Where do you want to live? What are you looking for? Pay, Qol, stability, movement, aircraft types. Gotta prioritize those items, then find a regional that meets your needs the closest.


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The closest base to home for me would be KMCI, but ultimately I don't care where I end up, I just want to live in base with cheap COL. I'm looking at considerable debt for my flight training, and I want to pay that off as quickly as possible. I would like to live somewhere cheap, and get paid well, so that I can pay off debt, and make it to a major.

Mesa is where it's at. If I was a youngin, I wouldn't go anywhere else. Go to lots of job fairs and hound them. They'll eventually call.

if you want, look for a cheap flight to Kuala Lumpur. there is a 737 sim ftd for 70 a hour. teach you flows start up and all the ifr you can handle.

What do you like about Mesa? I haven't heard a whole lot of good things about them, but I also haven't heard a whole lot about them in general.

Sounds like a good gig. How does one get set up with that?

Surely this poster is joking. Mesa is literally the worst possible carrier to go to. They make half of what everyone else is paying and have virtually no benefits. I'm shocked that people even consider Mesa. Commuting to another carrier with another base is 10x better than Mesa.

He's jerking your chain (hard) and probably subtly suggesting that you dive into the information already on the forums to get basic background information, which would let you ask more focused questions.

1. Do your research online.

2. Don't get sold on a regional because of your interactions with a recruiter. They are salesmen and very good at selling their product. Assume they are lying about everything, except locations of domiciles (they might even be lying about that too).

3. Be careful about getting sold on a bonus...there may be a reason they have to offer a bonus, and they usually lock you to the employer in some fashion.

4. Living in a larger, not-too-senior domicile is a huge QOL factor. Ideally you want to drive to work in well under two hours and be able to upgrade in that base in a reasonable time frame. This should probably be one of your biggest factors in choosing a regional.

5. Don't go to mesa, unless your criminal record precludes all other options.